Upward Road widening project to drag on past deadline

Published: Saturday, June 15, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, June 14, 2013 at 7:27 p.m.

It’s been a rough road for Charlotte contractors hired in 2010 to widen a nearly 2.8-mile stretch of Upward Road by August, and completion now is expected to stretch until the end of the year, possibly into early spring.

First contractors ran into snags in the wet winter of 2010. Then they were cited by the EPA for Clean Water Act violations in 2012.

Now contractors claim utility trouble has kept them from meeting the August deadline. Fines of $2,000 a day may start adding up for the contractors in October if they fail to prove their utility woes.

The project includes relocating numerous utilities such as lines for gas, water, sewer, electric, telephone and cable.

N.C. Department of Transportation Resident Engineer Aaron Powell said he met with the contractors, Blythe Development Co. of Charlotte, on Thursday.

“They are planning to get everything completed by this December,” Powell said, but he suspects it will be spring before they will be able to lay the final layer of asphalt and put markings on the road.

Contractors started work on the Upward Road widening project — turning two lanes into a four-lane divided highway from US-176 to Howard Gap Road — in May 2010.

The new traffic pattern should be in place this year, Powell said, if the weather cooperates.

“If it starts raining, it’s going to throw some things off,” he added.

It threw things off not long after work began in 2010 when rain, snow and ice led to flooding that stalled construction and made containing erosion on the site difficult to manage, a DOT spokeswoman told the Times-News in December.

Torrential rains and “utility delays” have also “thrown their schedules off” this year, Powell said.

The $23.8 million project is now about 75 percent complete and should be 95 percent finished by December, Powell estimates. Operating at a more than 2 percent cost overrun, the final project may cash in at more than $24.3 million by then — nearly $8.7 million a mile.

Powell said Blythe Construction engineers just started work on a culvert near Case Road that should take at least two months to complete.

“They said they can finish the section between Howard Gap and I-26 in a couple of months,” he said, adding that they hope to have that done by the first of August.

Crews may tackle drainage work and widening down toward US-176 as early as next week, he said. Most of the work will be done at night.

Plans for the project marked two bridges (over I-26 and Bat Fork Creek) for replacement. Designs also called for the construction of a temporary bridge to shift traffic onto while the I-26 bridge was replaced. A 4-foot-wide, 5-inch-tall median will also be constructed in the center of Spartanburg Highway.

<p>It's been a rough road for Charlotte contractors hired in 2010 to widen a nearly 2.8-mile stretch of Upward Road by August, and completion now is expected to stretch until the end of the year, possibly into early spring. </p><p>First contractors ran into snags in the wet winter of 2010. Then they were cited by the EPA for Clean Water Act violations in 2012. </p><p>Now contractors claim utility trouble has kept them from meeting the August deadline. Fines of $2,000 a day may start adding up for the contractors in October if they fail to prove their utility woes.</p><p>The project includes relocating numerous utilities such as lines for gas, water, sewer, electric, telephone and cable.</p><p>N.C. Department of Transportation Resident Engineer Aaron Powell said he met with the contractors, Blythe Development Co. of Charlotte, on Thursday.</p><p>“They are planning to get everything completed by this December,” Powell said, but he suspects it will be spring before they will be able to lay the final layer of asphalt and put markings on the road.</p><p>Contractors started work on the Upward Road widening project — turning two lanes into a four-lane divided highway from US-176 to Howard Gap Road — in May 2010.</p><p>The new traffic pattern should be in place this year, Powell said, if the weather cooperates.</p><p>“If it starts raining, it's going to throw some things off,” he added. </p><p>It threw things off not long after work began in 2010 when rain, snow and ice led to flooding that stalled construction and made containing erosion on the site difficult to manage, a DOT spokeswoman told the Times-News in December.</p><p>Torrential rains and “utility delays” have also “thrown their schedules off” this year, Powell said.</p><p>The $23.8 million project is now about 75 percent complete and should be 95 percent finished by December, Powell estimates. Operating at a more than 2 percent cost overrun, the final project may cash in at more than $24.3 million by then — nearly $8.7 million a mile.</p><p>Powell said Blythe Construction engineers just started work on a culvert near Case Road that should take at least two months to complete.</p><p>“They said they can finish the section between Howard Gap and I-26 in a couple of months,” he said, adding that they hope to have that done by the first of August.</p><p>Crews may tackle drainage work and widening down toward US-176 as early as next week, he said. Most of the work will be done at night.</p><p>Plans for the project marked two bridges (over I-26 and Bat Fork Creek) for replacement. Designs also called for the construction of a temporary bridge to shift traffic onto while the I-26 bridge was replaced. A 4-foot-wide, 5-inch-tall median will also be constructed in the center of Spartanburg Highway. </p><p>Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>